Every Path We Take
by MaterialisingSun
Summary: There is one person in everybody's life that causes you to stop walking and look at them in awe. I always expected that I would be the one to stop walking, that I would find someone worth looking at with wonder. But instead The Doctor stopped and found me.
1. Chapter One: The Beginning

_**(The beautiful cover was made by hyperdragon97. Thank you so much)**_

Sometimes, when I'm very bored or lonely, I make up stories in my mind to distract myself from anything and everything. It's become a habit of mine, to think about something long enough so that it invades my dreams for the chance to become true.

My stories have only come to life a handful of times, for instance, when I dreamed a handsome guy would sweep me away on my sixteenth birthday, I made up the story in my head and when the day arrived everything came true, with the added unexpected addition of me covered in cake as he ran away with my best friend. Then there's the time I wished for a miracle the day before a big test at school and it snowed so much that everyone in town was stuck in their houses fearing the 'miracle blizzard'.

Ok maybe what I like to call 'my superpower' is being a little exaggerated here. But this all leads up to something very important.

Straight after I graduated high school and was kicked out of the family home with not even a chance to take a breath, I sat in an empty hotel room staring at the deteriorating wallpaper and suspicious stains on the floor and made up a story in my head. A story that gave me purpose in life, that would make me feel important, that would make me feel loved and strong... I eventually fell asleep dreaming of this story that finally gave me the chance to be more than me.

Then I woke up and did what every person must do in their life: try to find a job.

I wouldn't say my superpower knocked me over in a whirlwind of awesome instantly, I actually felt like I needed to earn that opportunity.

So I finally sit down at the small generic table placed in likely every hotel room in the building I'm making home, and start researching.

What could give me a purpose in my life? I could decide to be a vet, or a policewoman! Though there is a big difference between those two options...

Of one thing I am certain, sitting around in my hotel room studying how to obtain a job is nothing compared to going outside into the cold harsh world to get one. So I leave the cheap hotel to conquer the world... or at least the job system.

"I feel that I can really contribute to your company here if you could just give me the chance... No... I've always wanted to work... Ugh no that's worse. " I mutter out loud as I pay no attention to my surroundings, instead preferring to constantly obsess over how someone succeeds at talking. I think I prefer reading, book characters never laugh at you or tell you you're useless. I'd rather pick reading or kissing right now, even if the partners for the last option don't seem to be lining up to participate. "No... I can do this... probably."

"Oh! Talking to yourself, sounds fun can I join in?" I turn my head in shock to see a young British guy in his late twenties walking beside me, he's wearing a stylish bowtie and a interesting tweed suit not seeming to have a care in the world, I am definitely jealous. Biting my lip I try to think of a reply when he interrupts again. "No wait, that kind of beats the purpose, then we'd be talking to each other. Hmm... How about we talk to ourselves next to each other. Or even better not talk at all! No.. that's not good. Uh. Hello! I'm The Doctor. What's your name?"

I cautiously look at his outstretched hand half expecting to be pranked in some way or for a camera to be hidden in the shadows to capture my response to such a random stranger. But as I glance at the face of the man calling himself The Doctor I relax slightly at the warmth and care radiating off of him. I reach out and shake his hand softly before quickly pulling away. "Hi uh... not that I'm complaining or anything but... why are you talking to me?"

"I believe I asked you a question first. You can't break the rules by not answering. I'll answer your question if you answer mine." I look at the peculiar man and suddenly realise I am smiling for the first time in days. Not only that but even though his outfit is strange he just feels like someone I can be comfortable around, maybe I could just humour him for now and see what happens.

"Breaking the rules? Are we playing a game now?" I quirk my eyebrows at him in amusement.

"Definitely." He replies with a smile leaning against the snow covered gate surrounding the town park trying to look casual and normal.

"When did that happen?"

"Just then when you wouldn't answer my question. Are you going to answer it now because you really seem to be breaking all the rules here." I smile at him and say nothing, a silence stretching out until he sighs with all the seriousness of a clown.

"Lia Marie. Or Lia, or... anything really." I finally confess when I've mustered enough courage.

"Finally! Now I'm legally obligated to answer your questions." Before I can say a word It feels like he decides to bombard me with an onslaught of speech that wipes any thought or awkward reply from my mind. "As I said, I'm The Doctor. I was wandering down this street trying to figure out what the year is when I was frozen in place. I could see you walking down here from across the road talking to yourself and It intrigued me. Not because you're strange or anything, I talk to myself all the time."

"That's not exactly comforting bow-tie man." I roll my eyes, blushing at the thought he would take notice of me from across the street, all because of my nervous muttering. "So that's why you came to talk to me? I was talking to myself to loudly?"

"Not at all!" He straightens slightly before continuing. "I stopped to talk to you because I saw a young woman named Lia Marie with the weight of the world on her shoulders, she was so weighed down that one of the most important facts in the world was being hidden from her."

I listen intently to him, knowing that in a moment this conversation will be over, forever to become a distant memory I will look back on and try to decipher. "What fact?"

"Forget about that right now, instead look around and tell me what you see, not the boring things, the interesting things. Things you notice when you look at what's around you" The Doctor's eyes meet mine with interest as mine meet his with confusion. Who is this man? Why am I even talking to him, shouldn't I be finding a job instead of wasting time? Although... my entire life is made up of people forgetting me and he'll be gone in the blink of an eye. What harm is there in having a little adventure when it presents itself to me, especially if he can see something about me I that I can't.

So against my better judgement I turn to face the men and woman walking down the busy side-walk and try to take in the interesting things about them.

"Um... I see people, going to work and school to live their lives, not noticing that everyone else around them is doing the same in their own way. " I look at The Doctor expecting a negative reaction but am instead greeted with him gesturing for me to keep talking. "I guess they're... They're writing their own stories, their own paths."

"And there's The Fact. The one hidden from your view that I can see as plain as day." He smiles kindly at me and steps back slightly. "There are a million stories out there writing themselves, but your story is in your hands and you have the lucky ability of knowing it."

"That..." I mutter. "That makes no sense."

"Oh." The Doctor looks disheartened and moves to walk away. "I must have been wrong about you then."

As I watch him turn away some thought stirs inside me and I voice it before I can process what I'm saying. "You're wrong. Everyone has a story, sure. But I don't think mine is in my hands. All I know is that I have a hundred unknown battles to fight, and right now I'm just focusing on one."

He is only a few steps away from me, not having gotten very far into trying to leave. So when he mutters a sentence out loud I can hear every word clearly.

"You're more special than I thought."

 **Hello everyone I am Ara. No matter the quality of this chapter I must say the first chapter's are always the hardest for me and it will get better, so in the meantime** **I'd love to hear what you think. Until the next time!**


	2. Chapter Two

"Do you usually do this?" I ask the strange man sitting in front of me, he glances at me quizzically as I take a sip of my drink. The Doctor and I had decided that after his outburst of speech accompanied by my own we should try to escape the harsh coldness of winter and take shelter in a nearby coffee shop.

"Do what?" The Doctor asks, crossing his arms and leaning slightly closer over the table we are sitting at. I place my coffee down unbelievingly, seeing he has no clue concerning what I'm talking about.

"Do you always try and impress girls with poetic words to get them to have a coffee with you?" He opens his mouth to reply but I put one hand up gesturing for him to wait. "It's the whole thing. The outfit, your strange name that's really just a title. Everything about you is confusing, like I'm constantly trying to figure out why I trust you so much. I must admit it works well."

"I... Have a nice face?" He shrugs, probably trying to make a joke. "I don't know. People just like me."

"Can you give me some of that? Life sure would be a whole lot easier if people would just like me." I look down glumly as The Doctor stirs the milkshake I bought him with the bendy straw he demanded.

"Why? Are you a horrible person?"

"What? Of course not!" I exclaim causing him to grin. "It's just people take one look at my nonexistent confidence and say 'Yeah I'm not leaving any responsibility in your hands'."

I mimic the voice of a horrible dance teacher I had at school, I must have said it too loudly though because a few customers in the store waiting for their drinks start to look at me with disapproval. I hate small towns.

"You seem pretty confident with talking to me."

"That's only because I'm half convinced you're actually some figment of my imagination. Either that or you're a con artist. And I must warn you, I'm prepared for anything." That's a lie. "But the fact you mentioned not knowing what year it is earlier is really intriguing me because part of me really wants you to be real."

"You're kind of weird Lia Marie." The amusement on his face makes my cheeks go instantly red as I stumble for words to reply with.

"Call me Lia, and you can't say I'm weird, you're infinitely more weird."

"True." His warm smile seems to melt my thoughts and I find myself instead smiling back.

"2016." I blurt out.

"Hmm?"

"The year, its 2016. When were you aiming for?" I tease, picking up my coffee again to finish it off. "Wow my jokes are lame..."

"No! That was entirely accurate." I look up at him in confusion. "I'm exactly in the right time zone, though that is strange... My friends wanted to go to some festival I've never heard of that happens every leap year, I thought I had the date wrong."

"Oh you mean the Leap Year Birthday Festival? That's awesome, maybe I'll see them tomorrow."

"Its tomorrow? Well, at least I was almost accurate. Anyway!" The Doctor stands up abruptly and I follow him out the door. "I better get back to my friends."

"Oh... " I can't seem to hide how disappointed I am, I wish I could follow him to wherever he is going. But my whole 'conquering the world' goal is waiting for me. "Yeah, well I guess I should get back to job searching."

He stops walking as we reach the exact part of the street we met not long ago. "You should try the library around the corner next."

"Why? Are there some books in there to show me how much of a failure I am?" I ask sarcastically. I am now decided, I will never end up with a job, the entire world hates me and the one person who first shows interest in me is a stranger on the street who only wants to get back to his friends.

"No. I heard one of the workers there just left." He leans close to me, before whispering in my ear. "I think she won the lottery."

If I didn't know any better I would assume the smile on his face was a smug one. But I shake it off and stand up straight with whatever confidence I have within me.

"I guess I could become a librarian. Sounds more interesting then feeling bad for myself." I say to out loud.

"Exactly!"

We stand in silence for a few moments, me, not wanting to move away from this moment, while The Doctor seems like he never wants to leave but can't wait to get moving at the same time.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Lia Marie. And don't worry. Spring is coming, Spring makes everything better." The way he speaks gives off an air of meaning. That he is trying to send me a message in some strange way that I sadly do not get.

Within a few seconds we say our goodbyes and part ways. I am left on my own with the feeling of loss of a potential friend. Maybe we should have exchanged numbers, or arranged to meet up again, but something about that man tells me he isn't the sort to do that.

So I walk away and hope that it isn't the last time I will see him. I hope that I find him or his friends at the festival tomorrow.

He was right though, there was a job available at the library, it was like a dream come true to find work where I'm surrounded by stories and adventures, even if they aren't me own.

I did go to the festival the next day but I couldn't find the man in the bowtie walking amongst the crowd and ended up going back to my hotel room filled with disappointment. I waited days, which quickly turned into two months searching everywhere for the strange man. But eventually I had no choice but to give up all hope. He really was someone who was gone in the blink of an eye. So I stopped imagining stories including this Doctor, and instead focused on my job at the library.

My Father always told me when he was alive that there is always calm before the storm, that no matter what happens there must always be nothing before something good happens so we can really appreciate it. And so as I swept the floors inside the public library I thought back to those words trying to find the real meaning.

It was like the moment the idea struck me that maybe the storm could be a good thing, the entire world decided to go quiet. I looked around the room to see nothing was immediately different, but the sounds of people talking, the noises of birds outside, were gone. Everything was replaced instead with an eerily silence.

I don't know what a normal person would do in this situation. So instead of being normal I ran out of the building into the street, turning around on my feet as my eyes took in the sight of everyone frozen completely in place around me. Every bird and animal in sight was frozen too, whether they were midair or sitting in a tree. As I finally completed my turn my eyes landed at my feet, taking in the sight of that man. The man with the bowtie, still wearing the same tweed coat.

Lying in front of me was the very unconscious Doctor, who hadn't been lying there moments before. He had a gash on his head and a hand where his heart must be, looking like he is in a great deal of pain.

I rush to his side and make sure he doesn't have any other bleeding cuts not immediately obvious to me, but as soon as my hand touches his arm he flinches away. His eyes opening wide to realise that I am kneeling over him with worry.

"What- What is going on? Where am I?" He sits up slightly and rests on his elbows, looking around the street uncertainly. "Well I'm definitely on earth... Did you kidnap me?"

I look at him with bewilderment, me? The girl holding a broom like it's a weapon that means the difference between life and death? Sure, I totally kidnapped him.

"Kidnap you? I'm just as clueless as you are right now. Why has everyone stopped moving?"

"That's not the question you should be asking right now. The question is, why did I wake up right next to you immediately after we said goodbye?"

 **And there we have it. Chapter Two! I'm really looking forward to this story and I hope everyone likes it, I'm writing it for me and not the reviews but they do make my day. I hope everyone has a great week, until the next time!**

 _ **Special thanks to Charlie,**_ _ **Sabye**_ _ **and**_ __ _ **Rosesroses25**_ _ **for reviewing, you literally made my week.**_


	3. Chapter Three

"What do you mean right after we said goodbye? I haven't seen you in months!" I back away from The Doctor slightly as he sits up. "You're making no sense."

"Interesting. Months have passed for you, no time has passed for me." He rushes to stand up and copies my movements from moments ago as he looks around the street as time continues to stand still. "You've got to admit it's strange."

My eyes focus on two arguing men both gesturing to what must be their wrecked cars, I had noticed them outside the window earlier when they crashed into each other. Now they're stuck with the angered expressions on their face for an over extended time. If I were to describe them I would state they were unknowingly comical as they stood there unmoving.

"It's more than strange. Time has stopped, that's just insane!"

"No I was talking about the fact I appeared next to you when there was a whole universe of people I could have appeared with." The Doctor stands up before immediately leaning down to grab a handful of dirt, sniffing it. "Something is very wrong with London."

"Well I'm sorry you ended up stuck with me." I scrunch my nose in uncertainly. "What do you mean London? We're in America. You said you were here with your friends."

"But you have a British accent."

"Doesn't mean we're in Britain you genius." I joke, standing up slowly while taking a deep breath to calm myself. Ok. This man may be insane but he is the only person I have to work with. Somehow we need to fix this whole problem with only a Unconfident High School graduate and a man who seems to have just escaped an insane asylum to do it. The fate of the world is in fantastic hands. "Ok. Time is frozen, and the culprits are nowhere to be seen. Great start to being the only people not frozen."

"Technically you're wrong there. So far I have two suspects." He runs toward the beautiful flower bed outside the Library and picks a Red Poppy. He holds the flower above his head before letting go of it, studying the beautiful plant as it falls. "Also time isn't frozen. Earth is being suspended in paused animation, otherwise that flower would have frozen in the air instead of gravity taking effect."

"Ok. That's logical I guess. Apart from the fact that things like this don't happen. There's no such thing as paused animation. People are people, they can't just stop." He grabs my hand as I argue and pulls me further down the street so I can see more people standing unmoving in front of me.

"Are you sure about that? I have over Seven Billion ways to prove you wrong." I stare with my mouth open trying to think how to reply as he pulls what he mutters is called a Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket. He uses it to scan the area before studying the device thoughtfully. "The cause is definitely from this town, but where, and by who."

He drops my hand and glances with suspicion aimed my way. "You don't have any alien devices on you, do you?"

"Oh, yeah I do. See this broom here? It's actually a very powerful people freezer. For instance!" I lightly hit his shoulder with the broom and scoff at him. "No of course not! I'm a Librarian for goodness sake. My only weapons are books."

His eyes crinkle in amusement as he waves the Sonic Screwdriver my way, why on earth he would want to scan me I have no idea. But the minute his eyes fall on the device to look at its report, the joyful look on his face soon turns into a grimace. Eventually I see him put on a fake smile. "You're right. No weapons on you."

"Then why do you look like either you or I are going to fall down dead any second." I shiver slightly as I feel an uncomfortable cold breeze. "Seriously. It's really worrying me, can you please stop."

"Your wish is my command." He mock bows before taking my hand again, half dragging me into the library. I can't help but stare at our linked hands and wonder how he already feels comfortable with me when we've really only met twice. Come on logic. He's probably a recently escaped psychopath I'm letting slowly break down the walls against trust I've had up for years.

"Now. The signal originates from in this library. So" He pulls the carefully placed books violently off the shelf and drops them on the floor, pushing them down like dominos. "If I wanted to hide that sort of device in a library, where would I put it."

He stops near the delicate books, gesturing for me to search them while he heads straight for the children's section. He avoids some young mothers and their children that had been suspended while looking through the stories placed around, he picks up a new rendition of The Ugly Duckling and quickly flicks through it. Within a heartbeat he seems to wipe a tear away and mutters the words. "What a lovely ending. But not somewhere someone would hide an evil device."

Baffled by his strangeness I tilt my head and realise how stupid this all is. Why am I trusting him exactly? And why on earth would a person hide an item so important in a library? Anyone could pick up anything in here and steal it with nobody paying enough attention to notice.

"You know... If I was going to hide something important to me, that I wanted no one to touch, I'd put it in the public bathroom. Right behind the toilet. Nobody would want to look there." I say humorously, kneeling down to pick up some of the discarded books, but I can't help but stop when The Doctor looks at me like I'm the smartest person since Einstein.

"Of course! A public bathroom! Somewhere so disgusting nobody would ever think to look around." The Doctor runs out of the room, stopping at the door. "Ah, you better check the Woman's while I check the Men's. You know. In case of people.. in there... "

His awkwardness is almost on par with mine as I nod and laugh, heading into the thankfully empty woman's bathroom. The place isn't as big of a pigsty as I expected but it is bad enough for me never want to visit there again. I dodge a pile of toilet paper sitting by the door and head into the first stall out of three. By the time I reach the second I am ready to run away screaming and never come back. If I suggested searching the public toilets for it not to be in here, then I will never forgive myself for the suggestion in the first place.

"Is it safe!" I turn to see The Doctor standing with one arm over his eyes and his other waving around in front of him so he doesn't walk into something. It's weird how much I see innocence in him as well as what seems to be a great amount of knowledge. It's like the two should cancel themselves out but instead they create a man who appears completely amazing.

"Doctor! You're about to walk into a pile of- Oh... never mind.." A laugh escapes me as he pulls his arm away from his eyes and looks around wildly to find the same toilet paper hill I had encountered before, now squashed flat on the floor.

"What was-" He begins to ask before I put my hand up to stop him. I try to keep my face as straight as possible as an opportunity for ultimate teasing appears before me.

"It's better you don't know." My voice is low and solemn, The Doctor seems to take me seriously for a moment looking horrified before he finally sees me biting my lip desperately trying to stop the inevitable laughter rising up my throat.

"Oh Ha Ha. Very funny. Pick on the guy trying to save the world." He takes in the mess in the bathroom and frowns. "You definitely are a great worker Lia Marie."

"Hey! Don't look at me! I'm not in charge of cleaning. I was only helping out with the sweeping because the Cleaner didn't turn up for work today." I say defensively as I look behind the third toilet. "Uh... does the device look all technological and have weird lights all over it?"

He races forward and I move out of his way, It would be horrible to interrupt someone who looks so determined. He picks up the item that seems to be like a black version of what they used as cell phones in the 80's. Even so It looked the size of a brick with little flashing red lights sprinkled all over it and seems more complicated than anything I've witnessed in my entire life.

"This is definitely the device. Exactly where you said it would be! What a coincidence..." If I were to say he looked at me with distrust, that would be a lie. He looked at me like he could destroy me if I tried anything dangerous, and in that second I was actually afraid of him, even though I'm innocent! I actually feel bad for the guy who did this if The Doctor ever catches up with him. That is, if I survive the Doctor's suspicion first.

 ** _Hello fellow readers, how are you liking the story? It's amazing right!_**

 ** _Thank you so much_** ** _hyperdragon97 for both the amazing cover and the review._**


	4. Chapter Four

I grew up in a family where being falsely accused was a common occurrence. People would constantly assume I, or someone else in my family, had committed some small act of crime and would base this accusation purely by my background.

Every one of my brothers and sisters had started off as a foster child in the large three-storey run down building we called Home. Eventually the small children became adopted if our foster parents decided it was the perfect match for them. I was the third child to be adopted at seven years old, when the man I will always call my father realised I felt like his own true daughter. But some stories have a sad ending, and just like the story of Cinderella his wife died. He was left with six children who he brought up as best as he could.

Because of our background, though, every person we met would blame us for whatever disaster that would befall them.

Oh! A dollar is missing from my wallet, surely it is the young foster girl from down the road who is the cause of this.

What do you mean my son broke into that house, It is the foster girls fault for persuading him to break in.

Honestly, I got used to the accusations ranging from lost spare change to apparently attempts of murder when I tripped and fell on an old lady who was harassing me. I think the stress all became too much for my father who soon passed away from heart troubles, leaving all six of us children in the care of his sister.

Let's just say she may have been the old lady, and I may not have tripped.

But that whole experience as a child gave me one very important skill. How to protect myself. So the very moment The Doctor's face changed from a look of trust to one of accusation, I felt myself trying to build up the brick walls he had started to tear down. I no longer look at The Doctor with interest, but instead look at him with defensiveness mixed with a slight streak of hurt.

"You can't think I'm the one who did this!" My face must look stunned and bewildered as the friend I finally thought I was making destroys every happy feeling I've previously felt. The idea occurs to me that if I cannot put back up my walls completely I will let him be the one person to destroy me, but I can't focus completely on that now. "You can't blame this all on me because I suggested we look in here, why would I give away the exact position of that remote thing if I had put it in this very room!"

I can hear my voice rise hysterically as I realise I have lost control, I've worked so hard to get away from being blamed for everything, for it all to come back to me again now it's more painful then I could ever imagine.

"Calm down. I was just-" He starts to reply when I feel a surge of anger plough through me.

"No. You cannot be suspicious of me because of one dumb coincidence when everything about you doesn't make sense! I've tried not to judge you, I've accepted every strange thing you do. But still. You have continuously suspected me of this... this... crime, from the moment you woke up!"

I get the feeling The Doctor is the sort of man to rise for any battle, I mean he's willingly trying to stop people from being suspended in time even though no one has asked him to. But as I defend myself I can clearly see he is not prepared and doesn't want to argue with me, or not anymore at least. I know deep down he isn't intentionally trying to hurt me, and maybe the evidence does look bad. But I am a normal 18 year old who shouldn't be treated like this.

"I... I guess I hit a nerve there... I apologize, you're right."

Finally something I'm correct about. At least for one second I can take a deep breath and forget the tears in my eyes, to relax, even if it is only for a moment.

"But I have every right to be suspicious." He says to me, voicing every word carefully like hes walking on ice. Oh god... why is this affecting me so much, why can't he just accept that I'm innocent.

"Lia, this device is built to suspend all of earths creatures including humans and a species called the Zygons. Anything else is free to move." He look like he's waiting for me to register what he's saying but instead I disappoint him with a look of confusion. "Lia Marie. Are you human?"

"What sort of question is that. Of course I'm human! Why!? How is that even optional!" I'm sure only dogs can hear me now with how high my voice is sounding, that is, if they weren't all suspended in paused animation because they have the luck of being from earth. What am I saying. _I_ am from earth.

"Of course its optional. What? You honestly thought humans were the only intelligent inhabitants of this planet?" He says the words that could be taken harshly, as soft as he can, like he's trying to break bad news to me. "Think about it."

"But that makes you an alien. I've been talking to an alien. I've been..." I catch myself before I say the words 'dreaming about an alien' before the real truth clicks into place. I can see he is telling me the truth by the way his face shows a mix of sympathy, sadness and excitement. " I... Am an alien..."

"Yes!" He voice oozes excitement before he clears his throat and straightens his bowtie. "You're a-"

"Hold on... let me take in the alien bit before you start... naming planets." Against my better judgement I sit down on the unhygienic bench next to the sinks. I bet if any other person was experiencing this they would be spouting sentences about how it all makes sense, how they never fit in to earth anyway. But I do fit in.

Sure I didn't have the perfect upbringing, but I always felt loved and like I had a home, that is, up until I turned 18. Is it sad that I wish I could forget the whole fact I'm an alien in the first place so I can go back to my lame human life?

"What kind of alien are you? I mean I don't know why I'm asking since I'll have no clue what you're talking about but..." I mutter, still in shock over everything.

"I'm a Time Lord."

"Well at least your race is humble. Ok then. Tell me what I am. As long as you don't tell me I'll start growing tentacles I'm sure I'll be ok now..." A headache hits me as the stress mounts, although, I would be insane if I weren't intrigued.

"You are..." He pauses for what must be dramatic effect but instead turns into an annoying wait. "You are a Minyan."

A laugh falls from my lips as I have no choice but to take it as a joke. "What? Like those little annoying yellow things from the movie? Is this some way for you to invite me to follow you around and do chores? Because, it's really not gonna happen."

"Not Minion, Min-Yan. Oh... my species and yours go way back... I even helped them restart their civilization when I was younger..." He seems to look back on the memories fondly before he remembers something not as nice. "But. Let's leave that conversation for a later date! In fact! Lets never talk about it again."

And he thinks I'm the suspicious one.

 **I don't know. It felt like I wanted to throw a twist in here already. The Minyan's are actually an alien from Classic Who with a long history all about the time lords, they were in a fourth Doctor story and have a very interesting fact about them that I will use in a later chapter... *insert evil laugh here* If anyone comes across the fact I will throw in one alien of your choosing in a adventure further along in the story**


	5. Chapter Five

"Is the fact that you're an alien the reason why you run so fast?" I question the Doctor, having just followed him in a mad hurry through the library to the Children section. He sits down on one of the small colorful seats that mostly 5 year olds sit on and glances at me with shock, probably surprised to see how out of breath I am. Forgetting my previous question I begin to obsess over another. "We could use the chairs in the adult section right around the corner, you know?"

"Who would willingly choose those when you can pick miniature chairs!" He looks excited, with his knees pulled towards him as he tries to fit on the chair and still use the tiny desk in front of him. The only way he could truly get away with sitting there is if he had a small child sat beside him, but instead he gestures for me to sit in another small seat to his left.

"Oh, sorry, I should have realised you're actually a child." I half tease with a friendly smile. No matter what I think, I still sit at his side on the little chair trying not to think about how much of an idiot I must look.

The Doctor gently places the small machine I found on the desk and tenderly turns it over, trying to avoid pushing any buttons. He looks like a real professional as he skilfully scans and surveys it.

I wonder how old he really is. Some aliens must have longer life spans than humans. I know that no matter how childish he sometimes acts, albeit in a fun amazing way, there seems to be a great deal of knowledge and sadness in his eyes. I wonder how long my species lives for, will I find myself with that sadness in my eyes when everyone I know is gone and left behind.

"Ok. So now we have that freezing thing what do we do now? Do we push a button? Destroy it?" I jokingly grab the device out of his hands, trying to distract my mind. Although he trusts me as I move the object from hand to hand, my destruction comment seems to get to him. He reaches out for the device and I delicately give it to him with a roll of my eyes. "Or we could be boring... spoilsport."

"Are you ok? I know finding out you're not Human must be difficult." The way The Doctor looks at me with such a knowing gaze, causes me to instantly avoid his eyes. "And you haven't stopped making jokes since I told you the truth."

Ah, my horrible habit of joking my way out of conversations when I'm in shock. This has happened an awful amount throughout my life. Most of the time I don't remember much afterwards, but I'm told that I ooze sarcastic comments whenever I'm nervous or have heard bad news. Maybe I'm experiencing a bit of both right now. "Ah... Sorry about that, but you're going to have to get used to it until my mind processes the whole 'alien' thing."

He nods knowingly, but seems concerned and extremely worried about me. I try to cover my face with my curly dark auburn hair and think about anything besides the fact that he cares enough about me, to worry. "Ha... Maybe I'm just as weird as you."

"I'm The Doctor, nobody is as weird as me." He jokes before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. After ten minutes of him observing and studying the object I volunteer again to destroy the thing, or at least try pushing buttons to turn it off.

"Judging from the complications on the device it can only be turned off by a fingerprint, I've tried it, and so have you unknowingly." He places it on the table with slight frustration. "If I try and destroy it, I have no idea what could happen to the people all around still being suspended."

"Ah. Better not destroy it then." I bite my lip deep in thought before a idea strikes me. "Why don't you use that sonic thing to find the owner."

"Well I was trying to track down this device when I first arrived here, but my signal kept getting interrupted. I was looking for something alien, and I found you." He looks meek as he speaks and if he hadn't just reminded me, yet again, that I am in fact an alien, I would have found how he said those last three words adorable.

"Then why don't you just set your sonic to find other alien devices that were built with the same items?" I ask him. "That can't be the only thing they brought with them."

"Now why didn't I think of that. I feel so distracted..." He mutters as he seems to do exactly what I suggest. Within a moment he jumps up from the tiny chair, with way to much enthusiasm. "I found a match."

He dashes out of the library and onto the street. I stand as quick as I can, my legs killing me from my previous sitting position. I glance out the window and see he has already stopped outside after walking a small way down the sidewalk.

Yay... More sprinting. Exactly what I love...

When I finally reach him as he stares bleakly at the sky, I bend forward slightly trying to catch my breath. "You know, I got a trophy for my long distance running. So can we stop sprinting around and do some of that."

Eventually I follow his gaze to what I assume is a small space ship. It hangs in the sky like it could fall at any moment and my mouth drops open instantly. Eventually I regain my composure and remind myself I'll have to get used to similar alien things now. This is nothing to worry about!

"That... doesn't look to bad, it's a tiny ship."

"Yes. A tiny spaceship. Containing dozens of devices that can freeze any species the owner sets it to." He seems to hesitate for a moment before continuing. "Then there's the controllers of those devices."

Ok. Now is the time I should start to worry.

"Please tell me they're happy aliens resembling the Teletubbies..."

 **Uhhhhhh there we go! A chapter. I just finished work and am exhausted so I didn't have time to insert in Lia's wonderful inner thoughts... My mum was late to pick me up from work though, so I had some time to think through the first storyline, whahaha *evil face** * **I do promise a better chapter next time!**


	6. Chapter Six

"Why are they here? What do that want?" I shut my mouth before I voice the million other questions in my head at this very moment. Like, Do they look like the aliens in the movies? What planet are they from? Are they deadly? But in my mind, only asking why and what are the only real requirements here.

"That's what I'm going to find out." He fixes his coat and stands up straighter with what I would call fake confidence to make me feel better. "You stay here, I'll go see what that lot is up to."

"I'm not just going to sit here when I could meet my first real alien!" He raises one eyebrow at me and a blush gently covers my cheeks. "Second alien... But still! There is a real space ship over there, with real alien looking aliens and you're telling me to sit and wait?"

"I am telling you to stay out of sight. We don't know what they want yet, and it's likely you wouldn't be able to understand a word they say. It's better to just stay here." He says. I cross my arms childishly and groan.

"Fine. I'll sit here and wait for the man to save the day, but if you don't come back in five minutes I'm going over there with my nonexistent kung fu skills, and I'll take them all out."

The amusement spread across his face easily increases my blushing to the point I can't wait for him to get away so I can feel like a normal person again, but at the same time my thoughts wish wildly I was following right beside him. He takes a few steps towards the danger before turning around suddenly, his face is full of concern but he looks like he feels awkward as he mutters the words "If anything happens, stay out of sight, signal me, do anything you can to make sure that they don't see you."

"Aye Aye Sir." I mutter sarcastically, just loud enough for him to hear. Now, I'm used to following orders without question. I grew up with a semi strict foster father who made sure we did what we were told. But all my mind was telling me as The Doctor told me to stay put, was someone shielding me from adventure. So obviously as soon as he is out of sight I crouch down and walk forward behind some bushes to catch up with him.

Out of sight of The Doctor and Earths new invaders, I manage to loop around any line of view they could have of me, sitting on my knees behind the bushes so I can hear their conversation and take in the features of the monsters before me. They're standing in the middle of the town's main crossroads, with The Doctor facing three nine foot giants with arms as round and large as barrels. Even so, their long legs seem to threaten they can catch up with him if he even dared to run from them.

They suddenly use a light beam to bring down technology way beyond Earths years, the beam lands a small distance away from my hiding spot, scattering important looking objects before me, all I would have to do is dash forward a few paces and I could mess around with the tempting items. Though, the common sense I grew up with helps me to strongly resist this childish act.

The Doctor's voice travels along the crossroads clearly as his unimpressed tone shows the invaders exactly what he thinks of the situation. "What are simple bounty hunters like you doing on a level five planet using illegal Suspension devices? I'm warning you. I'll give you one chance to explain yourself before I contact the Shadow Proclamation and have them deal with you. So make it good."

A loud hissing noise erupts from the middle invaders mouth that is extremely unpleasant to listen to, even so, words seem to make sense from the nonsense hissing the monster makes. Instead of questioning this, maybe I should just eavesdrop.

"We have no interest in you, _Time Lord_." Although it's hard to tell tones of voice from the incessant hissing I would guess the emphasis on 'Time Lord' means they aren't the best of buddies. There's certainly a lot of hope for mankind right now... "Our device causes no harm to the inhabitants of this planet, we seek an intruder on this land from a world light-years away. She shall be the only female on earth still able to move."

"And what plans do you have for this intruder? I'm guessing by your weapons they are violent plans. If you have any ideas about harming anyone in this town, I will stop you."

"Your threats are pointless Time Lord. We cannot leave without the package we seek. Your sonic device alerted us to her immediate position just moments ago. We will find The child of Rebellion." If I'm not mistaken, he said her. These aliens are looking for someone not from earth, who is definitely female, who was scanned by a sonic screwdriver not long ago.

I'm guessing its probably me.

Doesn't really take a genius to figure that out, but what is so important about me? I'm just a high school graduate who knows nothing about her real past. Now they're hunting me like an animal, calling me a package that must be found.

Now as a child I was always convinced that out of every available human on earth, I was the one that would be abducted by aliens. I used to sleep with a blanket wrapped around me so tightly that, in my opinion, the blanket would protect me from anything. Because sure, an Alien has travelled across the galaxy, ignored all other children and found the exact person they want only to be deterred by fabric. Sounds realistic.

Now that childhood nightmare is true, like another story I made up coming to life.

But why call me the child of rebellion? I'm anything but rebellious. I'm pretty sure the most rebellious thing I have done in my entire life was sneak out of my room at night to watch reruns of Kim Possible.

Suddenly The Doctor's concerns switch from the main topic of the aliens evil plan, to the realization I am hiding (badly) in the bushes directly behind them. Who knew that peeking my head out just for a second while deep in thought could end up so badly. Luckily I duck down as the invaders turn around to see what The Doctor is looking at. For bounty hunters, those things are pretty slow.

"Nice collection you have back there. But it doesn't look entirely peaceful. Miniaturization rays and air tight cylinders. I wonder what you could do with those? Maybe... suffocate people in your way while they're too small to react?" The Doctor mutters

"We shall take no chances. The child of rebellion is said to have a charming tongue. She can manipulate powerful beings to fight for her, as you are now. Those devices are precautions." The toneless hissing sends chills down my spine. Whoever this child is, it can't be me, can it? I'm about as charming as a sponge.

"I'd like to know where you're getting your information from. Sounds like they have been misinforming you." The Doctor wanders towards them, starting to study the armour covering their bodies. "What's that then, a voice activated teleportation device? I'm going to take a guess here and say that is the real reason you can't leave without the girl."

"As soon as the package says her name to us, our ship is set to teleport anyone within a ten foot radius there, which will automatically take us all home without fail." I wonder how smart these aliens really are. Their arms look too large to pilot any kind of vehicle, and they seem very dumbfounded about how to deal with The Doctor as their equipment stands meters away.

"Of course! Your brain capacity can only handle the art of kidnapping and murder, not the ability of space travel. I bet you wouldn't even be able to push all the red buttons on that miniaturization ray, causing a power surge through all of your equipment." Along with his words The Doctor looks at me with a glint in his eyes like he's trying to send a message in my direction. After a few moments his brilliant idea clicks in my head, or at least what I think his idea is.

"You are speaking nonsense Time Lord." The main alien snarls, finally having a tone added to his voice sounding completely angered. I take the advantage given to me by The Doctor and sneak out of the bushes to the closest machine, preparing for the element of surprise.

"No. Actually, I wasn't even talking to you." A grin spreads across The Doctor's face as he pointedly turns his attention to me. "I was speaking to her."

The Aliens turn to face me, their expression is one of pure horror as they realise I must be the 'package' they want, for one moment I feel all powerful as I start pressing buttons randomly. With one red button left I send the creepy aliens a smirk.

"I wonder what this button does."

 **At this point I really really really want to get off earth. This first adventure is almost done, but don't worry, once they leave earth the real fun begins. (I mean in this whole story, in no way do I mean this story is almost over)**


	7. Chapter Seven

It turns out that last red button created a noise so loud that not only were the aliens stunned, but The Doctor too. For some reason I seem unaffected by the screeching and take my chance to make a run for it, counting on the fact that the aliens will have more interest in following me, than hurting The Doctor.

I don't consider myself smart, far from it. But this idea appearing in my head seems like it could be the most genius thing to come from my mind since the day I was born. They need my voice, in specific my name, to send them home. If I am within ten feet of them I will be taken too, so I need a way to say my name for their ship to register it without being anywhere near them.

There is only one place in this town that could do the job.

I quickly glance back as I reach the open doors of the towns largest grocery store. I have to avoid several people at the entrance when I run inside, seeing the invaders bounding towards me at great speed, I guess I was right about them being fast. I sprint through the shop to the main desk, searching frantically for the microphone linked to the main speakers. I manage to find it being held in the hands of the store manager, she is gripping it so tightly I almost have to pry it from her hands like I'm playing the weirdest thumb war game ever.

Just as I get the microphone and dash through a doorway to the manager's office upstairs, I spot the hissing monsters taking huge strides into the building. Good. They haven't spotted me yet.

I take the stairs two at a time, pushing my way through the door and over to the window overlooking the layout of the large store. They have split up , searching each isle for any trace of me. I turn the microphone on, causing a loud screech throughout the building as the microphone sends a wave of feedback through the speakers. Taking the opportunity of a loud noise to distract them, I push the small window open just enough I can hear their hissing language, another plan creating itself in my head. I crouch down beside the window ledge and finally speak to the aliens hunting me.

"Hi, I heard you were looking for me." I cautiously mutter, not quite sure how to go about this.

"Show yourself Child! You will come to us now." One of aliens screams, or maybe he's speaking normally. It's hard to tell with these things.

"Firstly I just want to say, No way in hell. And secondly, I am in no way a child thank you very much." I take a deep breath before continuing, knowing the fact I could send them away right now is bouncing around my mind. But I have so many questions. "I just wanted to ask you lot, Why me? Why am I the one you're hunting down?"

"You are the child Quaesīta. You will always be hunted."

The way they say the word 'Quaesīta' sounds haunting and mysterious. Like even uttering the title is important. But of course, to me it means nothing.

"Ok... That made no sense at all..." My heart is racing as I glance up and see their search is getting closer and closer to my location. "How about I just ask one question then. If I go with you, how will everyone come out of suspension?"

The aliens mutter amongst themselves, like they are unsure whether to tell me in case this is some elaborate trap, which it is.

"The device will turn off the same way our teleportation devices work. Once we find you, we will retrieve the Suspension machine from your place of work." So they don't know The Doctor and I found it, which means The Doctor still has it, that is, if the aliens aren't lying to me.

"So uttering my voice into it will release them, nice to know. I hope you have a nice trip home guys." I stand up from my hiding place so quickly they manage to spot me in the window, thankfully they are still half way across the store. "Don't even try to come back again, I won't be here, I will never stop moving to get away from you."

Ha, with my millions of dollars I can definitely run away from them, not.

"Oh! And my name's Lia Marie. Almost forgot that bit." A blue shimmer surrounds the now very angry aliens as one glares up at me.

"Your owners will never stop hunting you. People will never stop looking for The Child Of Rebellion."

A blue blinding light seems to devour them, destroying, or in this case teleporting, every trace of them away. Ridding any thought or worry out of my mind about their many names for me, my eyes instead fall on the still frozen people still scattered around the store and the sudden realization that the Doctor has been missing for quite a while.

I drop the microphone and run down the steps and out the door, looking down the street to find that not only are the Alien's devices gone, but The Doctor is nowhere to be seen. Dammit. He better not disappear for three months again or I'll kill him.

"Nice show you put on back there." The Doctor applauds from behind me. I jump out of my skin in shock.

"Seriously! You had to sneak up on me after all that? Great job... Oh! And thanks for all the help back there."

"You had it all under control, more than that, it sounds like you just saved the world. Pretty good work for your first try." The Doctor frowns lightly, deep in thought "They really were interested in capturing you unharmed..."

"I haven't saved the world just yet, I need that suspension thingy to free everyone." I snatch the machine from his hands as soon as he pulls it out of his pocket, uttering my name as quickly as I can, letting every last previously affected, now resume their normal lives. The two men arguing over their crashed cars continue to yell. The customers entering the grocery store finally make it inside, and every bird either in the sky or sitting on a branch somewhere begins to fly and sing yet again.

"Ah. The sounds and lives of Earth." The Doctor says to me, "Isn't it beautiful?"

"I've never really noticed it before." I meekly answer, taking in every loud noise and voice I can hear. "But I still realised instantly when it was gone..."

"That's Every humans natural instinct, to not notice something until its gone. A common enough instinct throughout the universe, in fact. Imagine that, not many beings realise how much they tune out. And now you are one of the few people who will never forget."

I've never found a voice like The Doctor's before, a voice I never want to stop listening to. The way he pronounces his words is like music to my ears. He speaks of interesting, confusing and wonderful things all at the same time and yet although I don't always understand it I love every word.

I suppose he intrigues me.

"I... Guess I'm special then."

"More than special." The Doctor replies to me before freezing in his movements, realising what he said. "Uh... What I mean is, that name. The name they called you... Quaesīta."

"What about it? I thought they were just naming me a million names to try and convince me to go down there out of boredom." I joke while we start walking back towards the library, and for a few paces he doesn't say a word.

"Well. On earth Quaesīta means a quest, or something to be sought after. But in the language of your race it is a name that means exactly what I said, more than special, Of utmost importance, or anything along those lines."

"Hmm... Doesn't sound like me." Stopping outside the entrance of the library I begin to stare at my feet. So much worry is flowing through me, will The Doctor leave now the danger is gone? In fact..."How did you get here? In the first place I mean.. Like one moment I was alone and the next you were just... there."

"Ah, well that's more difficult to explain than a name." He rubs the back of his neck and looks anywhere but at my eyes. "You see I was-"

"You have no idea, do you?"

"No clue at all. One moment I was walking away from you down the sidewalk and the next I was waking up on the ground at your feet." The Doctor turns his attention to the world around us, countless people are living their lives and going off to work when moments ago they were unknowingly to them, frozen in place. Now they'll never know. "What are you gonna do now? Back to the library? Or are you planning on travelling like you told those aliens back there?"

"I was thinking about finding a rock to live under so they never find me again, but I guess travelling with no money will have to do." My sarcastic remark causes the Time Lord to grin, looking down the few inches difference between us so he can look straight into my eyes with excitement.

"You could always come with me."

"Uh... where to exactly?" This is insane. I shouldn't be showing any interest in going with this man. Although he is strangely brilliant is it really the best idea to involve someone else in my life who will be endangered by my 'specialness'.

"I am called a Time Lord for a reason, it's not just for the showy title you know."

"You can travel in time? Actual Time! And you're choosing me to go with you?" My mind recalls our first meeting and I remember a fact I easily forgot. "What about the friends who were with you?"

"About that, I may not be travelling with them at the moment. They come and travel with me every couple months or so I've only just dropped them off from their last trip. I just used them as an excuse."

"An excuse for what? To get away from me?" I half tease, I am definitely interested in the answer to my question, both of them.

"When I first saw you, I didn't expect to have a full conversation as well as us going to a coffee shop together. I don't usually do normal things like that. I was searching for an alien when I met you. It hit me after a while that you could have been a trap set by them." To say The Doctor looks embarrassed could quite possibly be an understatement. He looks mortified as he can't even look me in the eye anymore.

"Does that actually mean you were nervous while talking to a girl, so you made up an excuse and made a run for it?" I've definitely felt that feeling before, more than once.

"Maybe." He seems to shake off his embarrassment, more interested in changing the conversation. "So. Want to travel with me through time and space? We could go anywhere! I could introduce you to Cleopatra. We could be the first people to step on a undiscovered planet. We can-"

"Are you really trying to convince me to go with you? You've intrigued me since the moment you told me your name. Why would I give up the chance to learn more about your story?" And just like that my decision is made, and every word of it is the truth. His voice is addicting, his knowledge incredible and one thing I know for sure I'm not letting him leave this planet without me. The travelling through Time and Space thing is just a really cool benefit.

 **I've decided the first chapter of an adventure will have the name of it in the title, for instance Chapter One will be renamed** ** _'Chapter One: The Beginning'_** **Then chapter 8 or 9 will have the title** ** _'Chapter Nine: The Rise of the Herzog'_** **(or something like that) that way if someone wants to find a particular adventure, the titles will help them out.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this everyone and goodnight!**


	8. Chapter Eight

"No matter what you think Lia Marie, No matter what your eyes see before you. This machine, this... Box. It is the most important, most amazing time machine, no... the best Ship in the universe. So believe me when I tell you that no matter what happens. She'll always be there to protect you."

This time machine is a box. Like, a Blue box, maybe seven foot tall, an actual police box from the 1960's. I must say, he certainly knows how to pick a weird appearance. First the bow tie and suspenders and now a tall blue box he calls a time machine?

"She?" I nod, still trying to process everything in my mind. "Bear with me here, my theory is that you decided to steal from a museum, the best thing you could find was that police box and it turned out to be a female time machine? That is the only explanation I can come up with right now"

"Logical! But no, I stole it from my own species before running away from all my responsibilities to explore the universe." The slight amusement on his face increases as I roll my eyes.

"You have the whole universe at your fingertips, and you're here on earth." I gently push his shoulder jokingly "Timelords are weird."

"I love this planet, it is so beautiful and new. How could I resist coming here." The Doctor says, but I am no longer listening. Instead, I am running my hand down the rough wood surface of the Tardis door. A soft hum emanates from somewhere inside, fueling a sudden desire within me to enter.

"Ok, Doctor, impress me. Show me why this is the best ship in the universe." I stand on my tiptoes trying to peer in through the frosted window but I can see nothing. "Ugh."

I fall back on my heels as The Doctor steps forward to the door in amusement. This seems to be a running theme with him, I do something strange or weird, and he is utterly amused by it. Maybe this is my job as fellow time traveler now. Be the onboard clumsy comedian. I wouldn't complain about that career path of course.

The Doctor pauses in front of me, rifling in his coat pocket before pulling out a silver key that looks like it could open any normal lock. Unconsciously I open my hand towards him and he drops the key in my palm, studying my face as I grip the key and rush to place it in the lock.

Seconds later I rush inside the box before immediately running back out. The Doctor nods at me knowingly as I run around the box with my hand never once leaving the wooden surface until I meet the door again. I glance at The Doctor, completely bewildered.

"You might want to give yourself a second, the Tardis can be a wee bit..."

"Mindblowing? Exhilarating? Oh! I know! Terrifying!" Before the Doctor can reply a take a deep breath and push the doors open yet again and stand inside. "Whoa."

That one simple word is a complete understatement for all the feelings rushing through me as I spin around trying to take in The Doctor's Tardis.

Ok sure, I had my doubts about the size I was expecting. I mean, the Doctor is cool and all but being stuck in a tiny box with him would have been a bit awkward.

Instead, the large copper room with stairs leading up to what must be the control panel was far from what I was expecting. The size of the room seemed larger and larger the more I looked at it, and the three doors leading away from the room indicated that there could be much more to this 'small box' than anyone could ever imagine. If he can fit this entire control room in a small box, who says he couldn't fit a universe as well.

"Anything you want to say? Any questions?" The Doctor frowns as I stand still near the door, looking around with my mouth open in shock. "Usually, people have said a whole lot more than you have right about now."

"Uh..." Completely speechless I try and turn my attention to him, I am his guest after all or his new worker. Co-worker? That seems to be too formal. Maybe like a companion or ally? "Yeah... all I can think of saying right now is Whoa."

"Oh." His disappointment is obvious before a grin replaces any sign of it. "As I told you earlier this is called the Tardis. It means Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

"The key words being Time and Space, I'm guessing?" I ask.

"Huh, you catch on quickly." He replies, gently nudging my shoulder, I take this as a suggestion and step away from the door so he can close it. I go up the steps onto a glass-floored hexagon platform, mechanical items, levers and buttons laid out before me all tempting to push and look at but way too frightening to go near.

"So do you live here? In this box?" I enquire, leaning on the banisters around the platform trying to give an illusion of sanity.

"Yeah. The Tardis is my home."

"Pretty impressive home. Are there bedrooms and a kitchen and all that stuff? Or do you go somewhere else for all that?"

The Doctor brings up a display on a nearby monitor, moving just enough so I can have a clear look at it.

"It's a spaceship! Of course it has 'all that stuff'." He flicks a switch uncomfortably, if I didn't know any better I would say he is nervous about how I will react to everything. I guess he should, I've never been in a time and space machine with an alien before. Although now I'm an alien too It doesn't seem that frightening. He glances at me while I'm still deep in thought and interrupts. "It seems The Tardis has already set up a bedroom for you, should be easy to find if you're tired."

"Me? Tired?" I shake my head and try to look as awake and energetic as possible. "You walk a girl into a time machine then tell her to get some rest? What kind of alien are you? I want adventure! I want time travel! That is... if you want to.."

I panic, half expecting him to throw me out for demanding he take me somewhere but he seems excited by my enthusiasm giving him the incentive to start pulling levers and pushing buttons as the room shakes.

"Some time travel coming right up!" And just like that, I would never be remotely human again.

 _ **Sorry about the wait, this chapter was somehow awkward to write but after this we are back to adventures and I should start writing more during these holidays (holidays in New Zealand yay!)**_


	9. Chapter Nine: The Legend Of Golden Boos

_A young woman, no more than twenty years old trudged along a long gravelly road pulling a heavy trunk behind her. Any onlookers would believe the woman to be exhausted beyond relief, but as she spotted the worn out sign of a nearby inn, the woman gained a burst of adrenaline pulling her into the wooden building metres away._

 _She dragged the trunk in front of the bar, showing every patron in the inn how heavy her luggage really was._

 _"I have here before me, a treasure more valuable than your minds can imagine." The Woman's voice echoed so that every person could hear how loud and confident she was. "I will gladly explain more. But first I need rest."_

 _"We have mighty fine rooms, Miss, The best in the town!" A nervous bartender who must be the owner explained._

 _"Thank you kindly, Sir, but I refuse to stay in this establishment unless you lock my treasure in the most secure place imaginable." The Woman turned to the bartender with a hint of charm and smugness about her. "Then we can talk."_

 _No more than two hours later as all the people in the building began to sleep, a calmness fell over the house. There was not a murmur or sound as The Woman snuck down a staircase to wait near the locked room where her 'valuable' possessions were securely stored along with every other treasure of the people of the house._

 _Waiting patiently for someone, she jumped in surprise as a blood-curdling scream from inside the locked room woke every sleeping man and woman nearby. She ran to the door and tried to push it open with force, knowing others would be coming soon to see what all the commotion was about._

 _Losing all hope, yet still hearing loud noises from inside the room the girl knelt down and looked through the door's keyhole. It took a moment for her to focus but when her eyes did, she let out a scream louder than the first._

"So when you told me, 'Travel with me through time and space! We could go anywhere!'" I dramatically complain in a British accent half teasing the poor alien, "You really meant 'We can go anywhere in time, well kind of, not really, ok only a few places.'"

"I don't think travelling back in time, on purpose, to watch mysteries be solved before our eyes is really the way to go about things," He answers, running around what he told me is the Tardis console with a forced serious look on his face. "We could walk right into a dangerous situation."

"I thought you were telling me before how you met Agatha Christie and solved the mystery of why-" The Doctor pauses, putting his hand up to stop me midsentence.

"That doesn't count! That was accidental." We start a stare off gazing into each others eyes, daring the other to stand down. Eventually, a look covers The Doctor's face and he quickly looks away with an unreadable expression.

"I'm just saying Doctor! You've already told me a few stories about travelling through time to solve unsolved mysteries, why does it matter whether you stumble over them on accident or seek them out?"

"Fine! Where do you want to go?" He rolls his eyes as I instantly go quiet with no clue how to reply. "The thing is, I find mysteries because the Tardis always takes me where I need to go, not always where I want to."

"You mean... Is this box really alive?" The Doctor looks at me like I should have known this already. Well sorry for not automatically knowing time machines are alive, I must seem so uneducated Mr TimeLord. "I'll ask her to take me to one then."

"That's not exactly how-"

"Hey Tardis, you seem cool and uh, you're super pretty! Can you take me somewhere amazing in the past and... Oh, I don't know... Throw an unexpected mystery in there?" The whole room is silent, as The Doctor puts on a show of not expecting anything to happen. Right about when he decides to rub in my face I was wrong, The Tardis moves yet again making me fall to my feet.

The Doctor collapses against the bannister completely astonished and looking at me incredulously. Eventually, the shaking stops and as I check myself over for injuries he moves away from the banister to the small screen connected to the console.

"1768, Earth, Liechtenstein, somewhere near Austria." When he finishes reading off the screen he turns to me, "How on earth did you get her to do that! I've only managed to control her with speech once!"

"Uh..." Sitting on the floor uncomfortably I regain my composure, I need to act as cool about this as possible instead of showing I have no idea how I charmed the machine. "Maybe you should compliment your Tardis once in a while!"

Silently he holds out his hand to me trying to hide the start of a smile as the ship hums. I take his hand and stand up, taking a look at the screen myself to see a display of a dark night outside, with trees lining the road as a few people dressed in beautifully vintage clothes enter a nearby building.

"Oh my God. Their clothes look like they belong in a museum!" I exclaim in excitement, wondering if I will be able to wear one of the beautiful dresses this time period are famous for anytime soon.

"Don't say that to them, they may just take it as an insult." I can feel the Doctor's eyes on me as he observes how interested I am, but I ignore it, instead imagining men and woman long dead in 2016 walking around on the street, living their lives and wondering what tomorrow brings.

"Were the people who entered that building higher class? Their clothes look so cool." I jokingly stick my tongue out at him, "Was that any better? More respectable?"

"Definitely. Now come on! You wanted adventure, let's get out there." He points to a doorway above some steps, mischief glows in his eyes as he looks at me. " I remember there being a large selection of 18th-century clothing in the wardrobe, go down that corridor, should be on the left side about... actually, since the Tardis likes you, just ask her for help to get there. "

"Are you jealous?" I tease, jumping up the few steps two at a time. "Wait. She has a wardrobe, with enough clothes that there's a 'large selection' for this time period? That is so cool!"

Ten minutes pass until I make it back into the console room wearing a beautiful middle-class dress that makes me feel like a queen. The wardrobe had been big and beautiful, it reminded me of the console room with plenty of glass floors to the point it reminded me of a mall with each shop being a different time zone.

"Lets just pretend Corsets were never invented." I mutter as I join the Doctor near the doorway, looking at him as he wears the exact same outfit he was wearing before, with the minuscule change of a different coat. His mouth curved into a smile as he holds out his arm for me to take.

"Come on. What took you so long?" I look at him through my bangs, the only part of my hair not up in an old-fashioned style, and sigh.

"I think the Tardis was playing with me, ended up in the swimming pool half a dozen times. By the way, why do you need an Olympic swimming pool when..." He raises an eyebrow as I begin to realise he has led me outside into the past. The actual past. Every person I knew alive moments ago now have to wait patiently to be born.

I am completely speechless as The Doctor leads me down the gravelly road. I stare at the houses that are lacking lights and electricity and quietly bite my lip at what I've thrown myself into.

"I don't remember you ever being this quiet before, it's unnerving." The Doctor chuckles, checking back to make sure he shut the Tardis door.

"Hey! I am completely fine, I did save the world and my hometown about half an hour ago, and now I'm in 1768 in a dress I've only seen in movies and in museums. What is there not to be fine about?" The disbelief on the Doctor's face makes me blush as we continue walking further away from his ship.

"Are you sure about that Lia Marie?"

I open my mouth to reply when a scream echoes down the road, we look at each other before The Doctor takes off in the direction of the sound. I grab a handful of my skirts trying to run after him as I whisper to myself, "I'm not sure at all."

 ** _And here begins the original adventures of The Doctor and Lia, a few of you voted the past and the other half voted space, because of this, Space will be the next awesome adventure. I hope you enjoyed this, I actually loved writing the beginning and I hope you don't mind the change in narrative, it was essential to give some description of the mystery._**


	10. Chapter Ten

By the time I reach the door to the tall building, The Doctor has already disappeared inside, leaving me alone in the 18th century, completely and utterly alone.

I'm going to kill him, just as soon as I stop panicking. Thankfully, he's most likely inside, but the people milling around the door are not only frightening but seem to have a flow to the way they do things.

And as soon as I reach the doorway I trip over the long skirts of my dress and faceplant before them. Why do I have to be the only girl on earth who loves long dresses but can't walk in them without falling? I remember spending plenty of time with sprained ankles when I went through my dress phase as a teen.

I would ask whoever is in charge of life 'why me' but it's quite obvious now that being clumsy and different is just what comes with being myself.

"You look lost." A woman's voice says in a rough accent, I glance around frantically to see the open doorway that leads to the pub within the large building.

"I'm... looking for my friend." I let out the deep breath I've been holding in, pushing nerves out of the way to get to the matters at hand. "He's tall, kind of weird looking, with great hair."

"We're in Europe and he's a man. All of them are weird looking." The woman sneers, causing me to relax.

"Not your type then."

"If it's a man I ain't going near it."

Ah, uncomfortable silences are like heaven to me. Always intruding and making me feel awkward. "Where is everyone Miss... uh.."

"Erni, name's Erni. As for the men, they're all in the room down the hall, trying to show off and open the unbreakable door." Erni drops the rough persona she's held up in the last few minutes and sighs, muttering "Don't know why they'd want to..."

"Has something happened?" I inquire trying to hide my excitement. Please, please don't be just a stuck door. The Tardis has already played enough pranks on me for today, don't let this be another one.

The woman puts on her persona in a flash, a dangerous glint in her eye as she raises her arms. Tied together with a rope a similar colour to her posh dress, It's no wonder I didn't notice them. "They think I was trying to steal all their riches."

"Were you?"

"Possibly, but they don't need to know that." I open my mouth to ask her why she's telling me all this when The Doctor dashes into the room.

"Lia Marie! There you are! Come on, I've found something interesting." And just like that, he's gone again. A small smile appears on my face as I realise this must be normal for him, adventure and running around like a madman.

Wait. Does this mean I really do have to get better at running short distances?.. I don't want to think about that right now.

"Oh, about that strange looking tall man you were asking about? He went that way." I roll my eyes at the tied up woman, trying not to like a potential criminal. But I don't think I can help it.

I wander off down the hallway, getting lost in the large building before finding a couple of men standing around a closed door. One of the young men in a bowtie catches my eye as he is right in the middle of the action.

"Come have a look at this!" He bellows in anticipation, running his hands around a doorframe like he's searching for a secret. His enthusiasm alerts the nearby men to my presence, you'd think I had murdered someone with the way they looked at me. Now I've heard the expression that woman should stay in their place, but I've never realised how real and old fashioned that very thought was until I've now come across it face to face.

"No! We can't have any woman in here! We are investigating a robbery!" A gruff man explains angrily, sporting a grey beard and a horrified look on his face. "I thought you were a professional detective, but you let distracting young woman in here? She could greatly interfere with solving the mystery."

"The Doctor lifts his head up in shock from the door looking at the man incredulously. "What mystery? It seems to me the only problem you have here is a young boy trapped behind a locked door." He pulls a funny face while the sexist man isn't looking and I smirk."And anyway, it's probably a young child staying in your inn who was hiding in there."

"That's impossible Sir, the door is locked the minute there's no one in there. We don't want anyone to take the opportunity to steal our money."

"Are you sure nobody could sneak in through a window somewhere?" I can't help but ask him, the question just slips out and as soon as he registers it came from me I instantly regret it.

"Do you not realise that most windows are locked from the inside nowadays? Some of our visitors store their most prized possessions in that room!"

I wonder If I would get away with giving this guy a taste of real world feminism, but I think better of it when The Doctor thankfully clears his throat. I don't think I can handle much more of this 18th Century sexism. "So here we have a secure room with only one entrance, and I'm guessing only one window facing the back of your property? The door is never opened long enough for people to sneak in, yet we can see what looks like a young boy through the keyhole." He leans against the wall, probably trying to impress me as he continues "Is this a good enough mystery for you Lia?"

I nod sheepishly as I try not to think about the horrible man's eyes still glaring at me in the background.

"Right! Let's get to work!" The Doctor grabs my hand and pulls me closer to the door I've been trying to keep a distance from. "Any ideas?"

"Uhhh..."

"This is ridiculous, we've already caught the culprit?" Mr I need to get a life says with his voice yet again laced with anger. "We don't need a detective to open a locked door. We'll figure out why the key no longer works and all of this shall be settled."

Feeling a burst of confidence, I stand up straight, my shoulders back so I look like a proper lady as I stare him straight in the eyes. "What did this culprit steal? And if they locked the child in there, for what purpose? You have no proof she did a-anything." Dammit, I stuttered on the last word, but thankfully the man doesn't notice I know who I'm standing up for.

"She was as good as trying to break in when we found her outside the door early this morning, a blithering mess, looking like she was right about to leave."

"After we heard her scream..." Another man speaks up, leaning in a dark corner observing our interactions. This man seems kinder and younger than the first, the horrible man's son perhaps, either way, he's standing up for me which is kind since panic is quickly replacing my confidence.

"Be quiet boy, I didn't ask your opinion."

"Or you just don't want to admit this young lady is right, You technically have made a mistake in accusing one of our guests so soon." I smile at the newcomer to the conversation and he returns my gesture with a charming glance that would have melted my heart if the Doctor hadn't begun to glare at him. What is with this overprotective alien.

"Fine, If you want to waste time on this fools errand than be my guest. I am going to do the logical thing and see what I can get out of that witch who tried to rob me."

Oh, how sad, Its horrible to see him go! Not. I never thought I would have to wonder if wringing someone's neck is legal in a particular time zone. I'm going to just assume the answer would be a no and investigate with The Doctor.

"All the folk staying here think the Golden Boos is behind all this." The young man pipes up after a strange silence. "Wouldn't be surprised if it was."

"Whats that?" I tilt my head while the Doctor turns back to the door only half listening.

"Well, there is a legend. It says there is a strange creature called the Golden Boos, known for stealing treasure from a locked room, no matter how secure. Some say It even robbed The King not more than a year ago and escaped!" I nod along kindly, trying not to think this sounds like a story you would tell children at night. "Nobody know's how the robber does it, people believe that there are magical properties behind all of it."

"I don't believe in fairy tales," I mutter, kneeling down to look through the keyhole. The outline of the small person facing away from the door is evident from what I can see, but an eerie black outline on the wall in front of the child sends shivers down my spine.

"But Horror stories on the other hand..."


	11. Chapter Eleven

_**Oh wow, a quick update, yay! Aren't I nice? You can thank Trenderman for this one, it's dedicated to Trenderman for encouraging me to update again. God.. I love writing this story.**_

"You don't really believe that legend, do you, Doctor?" I finally ask the question intriguing my mind since the young guy with the story left The Doctor and I alone.

Does anyone really believe something if it is labeled as a legend? I'm the kind of person who loves straight facts but will trust people if they sound honest enough, hence why I believed The Doctor. In my mind, The Doctor either really believed he was an alien called a time lord, or he simply was one. But this legend, although slightly exaggerated, has facts backing it up as well as a similar situation playing out right before us.

I need to see if the Doctor believes the rumor or story.

"The way I see it, every Legend starts somewhere." He looks through the keyhole while continuing to speak. "Every Story either comes from someone's imagination or someone's misunderstood experience."

"Like Chinese whispers?" I enquire, quickly looking down the hall to make sure the young man talking to me before is out of earshot after leaving moments ago.

"Exactly! Every legend starts somewhere, like the Loch Ness Monster for instance. Poor Nessie, he was just trying to get home to his planet when a tourist started taking pictures of him." He puts the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket before grabbing my hand and leading me back down the hall. After a second, he leans closer to me so the men interrogating Erni don't hear. "He's Photo shy you see, the lights scared the life out of him. He's somewhere in the Atlantic now."

I'm unsure whether to accept this new information as fact or not, but maybe just accepting The Doctor's stories as truth will be far easier Friendship wise.

"There you are sir. I was wondering whether you were wanting to investigate the side window for any signs of a break-in. The only concern is we can't seem to procure a ladder." The ultimate poshness of the young man is for some reason getting on my nerves, either that or I want to hear more of The Doctor's story.

"No problem there, we'll check it out right now Rodrick." The Doctor replies, not pausing in his path to the Door the whole time Rodrick speaks. At least, I now have a name to the face, it's better than calling him 'the young one' I suppose.

Eventually, we find the window to the locked room. Staring up at it, it's obvious we do need a ladder to even try and go in that way unless some acrobat suddenly appears.

"Now, according to the owner, there are hinges on the door inside the room. I can use The Sonic to unlock them." He glances sideways at me before coughing awkwardly. "Mind giving me a lift?"

"What? You expect me to help you get up there? I'm not a bodybuilder you know, I'm a librarian. Most likely a fired librarian at that." I stare at the window out of The Doctor's reach.

Like I could really lift someone who's half a foot taller than me! It must be a joke.

"Well, I'll lift you then." And just like that, we enter a vicious staring contest that only ends when I groan in annoyance as I buckle easily under his gaze three minutes in.

"Fine! I'll do it, but if this is an excuse to look up my dress, I might as well tell you I'm wearing jeans underneath." His stunned innocent look almost reduces me to laughter. "And... I don't know how to use that sonic thing."

"You think what you want it to do and hold down the button, Simple programs will work in that situation." The Doctor turns and places his hands on both my shoulders kindly. "Are you sure about this? We don't know what's really in that room besides an unmoving child."

"Eh, I make children laugh. I'll be fine!"

Deciding against climbing on his shoulders while wearing a massive dress. We decide to try a similar initiative to mounting a horse, he gives me what I think is called a leg up before letting me stand on his hands. I have to admit he's quite strong to hold all my weight like that.

Holding a rock I grabbed off the ground before climbing to the window, I look down at the Doctor nervously. "What if the owners come running when they hear me break the glass?"

"What are they going to do? Arrest a Detective?"

"You're not a real Detective!" I exclaim, clasping more tightly to the window ledge as the Doctor wobbles slightly.

"I don't think the neighbors heard you say that, do you mind repeating yourself a bit louder?"

"Shush! I'm focusing on not messing this up." I have about fifty seconds before I expect myself to make a mistake. I really need to build more confidence in myself, either that I should join a gym.

"Just make sure you don't cut yourself on the glass."

"Oh, now you're worried about that." I finally balance myself and try and give the glass a push. "Thank's a lot Doctor."

"Not to insult you or anything, but you're really getting heavy." I gasp in anger, momentarily losing my balance, causing me to fall forward with my hands in front of me. I accidentally smash the window in front of me just enough so I can open the latch inside. I gradually pull myself up, resting my stomach on the window ledge while I try and find all the glass on the floor to avoid.

"Did you just call me fat? Just you wait until I get down there." I yell at him, trying to edge myself forward carefully inside.

"Of course not! Wait, why are you wearing running sneakers in the 18th century?"

"Hey," I mutter, looking down at him mid-struggle while clinging the ledge for my dear life. "I don't judge you and your bowtie. So in return, stop judging my Nikes."

The seriousness in my voice must catch him off guard as the laughter that follows my request is definitely spontaneous. Thankfully he no longer needs to hold me up as I then proceed to collapse into the locked room.

Unluckily, though, I still seem to be very much myself, so when I tumble inside I land palms down on a shard of glass, cutting my right hand badly. Great... Just what I need right now. The Doctor better not say anything like 'I told you so' or I will hide his sonic screwdriver.

"Lia? Lia-Marie? Are you ok, I heard you gasp, please tell me it was a good gasp!"

With a sigh of exasperation, I sit up on my knees, surveying the damage and blood dripping down my hand and along my arm.

"This isn't funny Lia, Say something?!"

What does he think happened? That a monster decided to kidnap me? That is sooooo three hours ago. Standing up, I briefly stop at the window to reassure him, "Oh yeah, that. It was totally a gasp of pleasure. There are tables full of chocolate in here as well as like five hot guys checking me out. No seriously, why else would I gasp?"

"Oh, you're using sarcasm now. Amazing." He mutters as I show him my injured hand. "You still have the Sonic?"

Patting my jeans pocket under my dress, I feel the shape of the magical device before taking my first real look around the room. It feels strange like I don't want to explore or survey the area, yet I want to know everything the small room has seen.

There are piles of luggage and a shelf of expensive items laid out along one wall. The young child I saw through the keyhole kneels before one of the larger chests in the room, almost in a praying position with the light streaming in underneath the locked door casting an eerie shadow on the wall next to him. Even so, the shadow looks nothing like the dark black one I saw earlier.

Glancing back at the child I realize he must be a young boy of nine or ten. He is wearing ripped raggedy clothing and shoes with holes all through them sparking the protective caring side within me.

"Hey, um. Little boy? Are you alright?" Wow, I would feel so confident if I were him. Being saved by a random girl pretending to be a knight in shining armor is especially high on my to do list. Particularly armor that happens to be a pretty dress and some mighty expensive sneakers. "Come on kid, speak to me?"

I step forward and lightly grab his shoulder to turn him to me but the sight I see causes a scream to leave my lips before I can even think about it.

His eyes are completely white, his face expressionless as he remains unmoving after he faces me. I step back in shock, what have I gotten myself into...

My eyes move from the little boy to the door, unknowingly ignoring the Doctor's shouts of worry. Written on the door in black letters are four words artistically spread along the wood.

 **I**

 **want**

 **the**

 **girl**


End file.
